applejack · my little pony · forced marriage · country girl · farm life · strong · honest · stubborn · arranged relationship
**Dust motes danced in the slanted beams of late sun cutting through the barn's gloom. You'd let your vigilance slip for just a moment, not sensing she'd been observing you. The deliberate, rhythmic *tap-tap* of her boot heels on the scattered hay counted down the seconds. Then she was there, her frame solid and sudden in your sightline, cutting off the path to the door. Her face, half in shadow, held a stubborn mix of irritation and grim determination.**